History

Langweils Model – A Lesser Known Treasure Take a close look at this photo below. At first glance it looks like a view of Prague from Petrin Park. And you would be right in thinking that except that you are looking at a photo of Langweils model of the city. Prague is an old city … Read More

Operation Anthropoid In October 1941 after three years of occupation the exiled Czechoslovak government in England decided that a show of strength was required. Operation Anthropoid was a World War 2 military operation with a specific assignment for two young allied paratroopers namely the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. By the end of June 1942, Heydrich … Read More

The Story of Jan Palach – Always Remembered Every January 16th thoughts will turn to an event which happened on this day in 1969. The story must begin in the January of 1968 with the election of Alexander Dubcek (pronounced “doobcheck”) as Communist Party leader. He was a reformer who set about introducing reforms and … Read More

Velvet Revolution The Path Less Travelled You’ll have read that the Velvet Revolution started on International Students Day i.e. November 17th 1989 but, it started well before that. Actually you have to go back 50 years to understand that the students were protesting on an anniversary and go back another 20 years to explain why … Read More

Vaclav Havel A Life in Brief When I came to Prague in June 1996, the Czech Republic had only been in existence for three and a half years and Vaclav Havel was still in his first term as Czech President. I was not really up on politics and central European History at that time but … Read More

Klement Gottwald, First Communist Czech President Unlike the first three Presidents Tomas Masaryk, Edvard Benes and Emil Hacha who trained as philosophers and lawyers, Klement Gottwald was considered a man of the people as his first trade was being a cabinet maker. In the first world war he had originally fought on the Austro-Hungarian side … Read More

The Czechoslovakia Velvet Divorce It’s one of those historical quirks that the Velvet Revolution was associated with a smooth transition from Communism to Democracy but not so many people heard about the Velvet Divorce. January 1st 2018 marked the 25th Anniversary of the separation of Czechoslovakia into the sovereign nation states of Slovakia and the … Read More

Tomas Masaryk – First Czech President What an amazing life this guy had and it can be divided into three very distinct parts. Firstly, his fight to raise himself from the poor land he was born into. Secondly, the development of that intellect into a political tool. Lastly, as founder of a new country. In … Read More

Edvard Benes – 2nd Czech President Edvard Benes (pronunced Benesh and by the way “Edvard” is how we say Edward in Czech) worked alongside Tomas Masaryk in the creation and ultimately the governing of the new sovereign state of Czechoslovakia. Edvard Benes became the longest serving Foreign Minister, served as Prime Minister, represented Czechoslovakia at … Read More